Texans look for big boost inside the 20

Dennison's mandate: more red-zone scoring

JORDAN GODWIN, Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle |
July 29, 2010

Rick Dennison will focus on improving the red-zone efficiency of Steve Slaton and the other running backs.

Texans coaches had a brief vacation between organized team activities and training camp, but offensive coordinator Rick Dennison spent most of his time studying film and tweaking his playbook.

Last season, the Texans were one of the NFL's best teams at getting to the red zone, but they put up mediocre numbers when it came to getting in the end zone. Their offense ranked fourth in yards but 10th in scoring. As the primary play caller this season, Dennison has the task of improving the efficiency inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

"Scoring in the red zone is predominantly a matter of execution," Dennison said. "It has nothing to do with bad luck, as some people might like to think."

In 2009, the Texans' 63 possessions inside the 20 ranked fourth behind offensive stalwarts New Orleans (71), Minnesota (69), and New England (65). But once they were there, the Texans scored touchdowns only 52.4 percent of the time, ranking 12th in the league. That number was at least an improvement from the 26th-ranked 45.9 percent efficiency the team posted in 2008.

Four of the five most efficient red-zone scoring teams made the playoffs last season, with only Miami and its run-oriented offense left out. Both Super Bowl teams ranked in the top five, with Indianapolis third and New Orleans fifth.

Broncos background

Based on his résumé, Dennison could be considered a red-zone guru. When he was the offensive coordinator in Denver from 2006-08, the Broncos consistently ranked near the top in red-zone scoring. They finished second in the league in red-zone rushing in 2008, but after he was moved to offensive line coach last season, Denver dropped to 21st in that category.

When the Texans hired Dennison in January, he immediately set out to determine why they had trouble scoring in the red zone.

"It's really a matter of a lot of little things coming together to work against you," Dennison said. "One of the first things I noticed was that there were times when the (offensive) line and the (running) backs weren't working together as well as they should."

Dennison was considered one of the league's best offensive line coaches when he held the position in Denver from 2001-05. During that time, he worked with then-offensive coordinator and current Texans head coach Gary Kubiak on establishing a fluid line that would benefit the rushing attack.

Now that Dennison and Kubiak are reunited, they hope for an improved running game . The Texans ranked 30th last season in rushing and will need to improve in that area to fix the red-zone troubles.

Brown, Slaton inefficient

The Texans had 89 red-zone carries in 2009, and the two running backs who had the bulk of the load weren't very efficient.

Chris Brown led the way with 29 red-zone carries, and only three became touchdowns, with two coming from the 1-yard line. Steve Slaton was just as inefficient, producing two 1-yard TDs on 22 red-zone carries.

Under Dennison, the system will be much the same as it was last season. He still plans to utilize the elite passing combination of quarterback Matt Schaub and wide receiver Andre Johnson. But Dennison's primary goal for the season is to shift each player's focus from, "What's my job on this play?" to "How does my job affect the outcome?"

With playoff expectations, the Texans will need to continue to improve their ability to score once they penetrate the 20-yard line. The offense has been receptive to Dennison's corrections, but he said he still has plenty of work to do before the season begins.

"The biggest goal during OTAs was for everybody to learn the system and make sure they're all on the same page," Dennison said. "And our job during training camp is to make big strides toward learning how to execute.